Roadshow: A two-finger salute from a motorcyclist is actually a good thing

Q In regards to the person who thinks motorcyclists are playing carpool cops when they flash two fingers at a driver, I want to let him know that the two-finger sign is a simple way of saying "thank you" from a motorcyclist to a car driver. The rider was acknowledging the driver's considerate safe driving efforts while the motorcycle passed. ... The two-finger salute is actually a peace sign. That's how we motorcyclists wave to say thank you for making room for us to split lanes.

Jaimié Elpedes, Nick Tonn, Henry Gage, Steve Rosen and more

A Really? I learn something new every day. Hopefully we'll all earn more two-finger salutes.

Q They appear to be widening the Stevens Creek Boulevard bridge over Interstate 880/Highway 17 right by Valley Fair. Do you know what this project is accomplishing and how I could check on progress? I have tried looking up this project on the Internet without results. ... This looks like a big project. A very small thing that Valley Fair could do would be to put another entrance lane feeding into the mall parking lot off the southbound 880 exit to Stevens Creek. That would drain the backup on 880 and reduce the pressure on the intersection at Monroe/Stevens Creek, which is the root cause of the traffic problem in the area.

Linda Becker, Nick Nomm and more

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A That is indeed the root cause of the traffic mess here. The Valley Transportation Authority is overseeing a $62.1 million effort to rebuild the interchange, and construction is about to really take off. It will include widening the Stevens Creek overpass, building a new freeway-to-freeway ramp from north I-280 to north I-880 and doing what Nick recommends -- adding a direct offramp to Monroe Street from south I-880, so mall patrons won't have to use Stevens Creek to get into the Valley Fair parking lot.

Work will last into 2015. Go to www.vta.org and click on the projects list.

Q Is there any other industry able to control our economy the way big oil does?

Len Kole

San Jose

A Dunno, but rising gas prices certainly grab everyone's attention. As of Friday, we stood at $4.22 a gallon in California, up 57 cents from a month ago and the highest price ever for the state in February.

Q I have a question regarding the timing of the traffic lights along El Camino Real in Menlo Park. Early last year, it seemed that the lights were synced up so the drive was very smooth, especially in the 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. commute time. Now the lights seem to have gotten out of sync again, causing gridlock at a couple of intersections. I've seen several drivers, seeing a green at an intersection ahead, block an intersection thinking traffic will start moving before their light changes to red, but it doesn't and leaves them hung out in the intersection. Will the timing be looked at again?

Chris Stier

A Yep. Damaged vehicle detectors are to blame but should be fixed soon.

Q Can you please see if Caltrans can doing something about the northbound Highway 101 onramp at Capitol Expressway in San Jose? They've put up those concrete barricades and made the merge of the eastbound and westbound expressway traffic onto 101 very short and a single lane.

This is worse when the metering light is off because when it's on, traffic merges in a more orderly fashion.

Owen Bates

San Jose

A Traffic officials are mulling over turning the metering light back on to see if that will help.

Q On northbound and southbound I-880 near the 237 interchange, there are two-headed signals mounted on the concrete median barrier. What are those signal heads meant to communicate?

Matthew Jue

Fremont

A These lights allow the CHP to look for FasTrak offenders from either direction. There is a light on the tolling gantry -- an enforcement position in the center divider where officers can park -- and another offset from the gantry.